“An Expeditionary
Transfer Dock (ESD),
formerly the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP), was designed to be a
semi-submersible, flexible, modular platform providing the US
Navy with
the capability to perform large-scale logistics movements such as the
transfer of vehicles and equipment from sea to shore.These
ships significantly reduce the dependency on foreign ports and
provide support in the absence of port availability.”

Its
final destination is still unknown, but definitely US is preparing
for another big overseas operation from the West Coast.